Thursday, January 18, 2018

Why Montreal Was a Hotbed for Neo-Nazis in the 90s

Not-so-vintage photos of neo-Nazis parading through in Montreal started making the rounds online earlier this month, shedding new light on a dark and somewhat forgotten period in Quebec history.

In the past few years, fringey far-right groups like La Meute and Soldiers of Odin have continued to gain ground in the province and across Canada—vocally opposing issues such as immigration and the “Islamisation of Canadian values.” Incidents such as the January 2017 mosque shooting, along with several cases of Islamophobic vandalism and harassment and anti-immigration protests also demonstrate increased racial tensions. In this context, the photographer behind the nearly 30-year-old images now hopes his photos serve as a cautionary tale.

“People forget that this existed in Montreal,” Montreal-based activist André Querry told VICE. “I want to show the dangers of that era and remind people that we have to fight against these dangerous ideologies.”

The early 1990s were a turbulent time in Quebec, with the Oka crisis—a standoff between Mohawks and the military over a proposed golf course development on sacred burial ground—and ongoing constitutional negotiations exacerbating racial and linguistic tensions.

In the midst of all this turmoil, different neo-Nazi groups—including a chapter of the Klu Klux Klan—emerged in Montreal, attracting more than 100 members who targeted black and Jewish people and members of the LGBTQ community. (more...)